Human Nature: Book One Need
by MidnightRhymer
Summary: WARNING: This "book" is a prelude to things to come. It's more like an introduction. Complete summary inside. M for language and later chapters.
1. Preface

Human Nature

Book One: Need

**Summary:** Every being has a need. Those needs do not often clarify themselves, but more often than not they are there in the human subconscious. For the eldest daughter of Nigel Swann, brother of Governor Weatherby Swann, that need is insatiable. She is, by day, the sensible, kind hearted, delicate daughter of a nobleman. However, at night, in her dreams, her true passions alight. When a visit to the Caribbean gives her the chance to be everything she's ever wanted to be, can she take it?

**Disclaimer:** It's all Disney's.

Preface- Sense and Sensibility

_Her face was alight with a brilliant red flush, the kind which paints a rose on a warm spring afternoon. Her lips were swollen, pressed feverishly against his. Her brilliant green eyes were closed against the idea that he might not be what she imagined him as. Her brilliant captor was doing things to her that she'd never imagined. Everything that she'd ever heard about, she was experiencing in her very core._

_"Rosaline! __**Rosaline!**__"_

"ROSALINE! WAKE UP!" her sister screamed.

Rosaline Swann forced her eyes to open, giving in to the fact that she would have no release this night. Her green eyes scanned the room quietly, and her senses returned to her cautiously. She could tell that she once again had no desire to control herself again. The fact that they were no longer in the house in Surrey made her wild desires all that more enticing. She had no rhyme nor reason to control herself in the Caribbean, and she was thinking about not doing so, at least at night.

"Adrienne, have you lost your mind? What have I told you about barging into my room like you live in it," Rose snapped.

"Father sent me in to wake you and see that you are ready in thirty minutes time. We'll be making port then," Adrienne said despondently, lowering her head.

"I'm sorry, Addy, I didn't mean to yell. I was just having a good dream is all," Rose replied quietly, knowing that all her sister was trying to do was impress her. Since their mother's death after the birth of their only brother, Adrienne was only concerned with what her older sister thought of her. She was all the time trying to justify her actions to the woman, trying to get Rose to see the brighter side of things. Rose only wished that she could tell her sister what really went on in the supposedly sensible mind of the eldest daughter of Count Nigel Swann.

_Once two people know, it's no longer a secret,_ she repeated to herself. Quietly, she sat up and went to her small trunk, opening it to reveal her favorite red dress, which her father had requested her to wear their first day. Its dusty hue complemented her rosy cheeks and straight, burgundy hair nicely, and Governor Swann, her uncle, had brought it to her on his last visit to their home in Surrey.

Addy rushed to help her with the corset, sparing her the need to call in their hand maiden. Once the infernal torture device had been secured around her waist, shortening Rose's breaths to lady-like wisps, she stepped into the dress and allowed Addy to lace it up the back as well. She drew on her ladies boots and donned a red sun hat that covered her flush nicely before grabbing the beautiful red fan that her father had purchased for her in Japan.

"Are you ready as well, Adrienne?" Rose asked.

"Of course, sister. I had to get ready before you because I knew you'd take so long," Adrienne said with a smile.

Rose gave her sister a loving shove before they ascended out of the hold. She knew not what awaited her in Port Royal, but it smelled like adventure.


	2. Chapter One Cousins and Their Secrets

Chapter One- Cousins and Their Secrets

Adrienne and Rosaline Swann greeted the salty sea air with loving, tender sighs. It wasn't often that they got to travel with their father, but when they did, they preferred the sea to the carriages. The sisters approached the rail, watching as the Dauntless slipped smoothly into Port Royal's docks. The gangplank was lowered, and the ladies waited patiently for their father to descend first before they came down, giggling at the thought of seeing their dear cousin Elizabeth and their Uncle Weatherby again. The Count allowed his daughters their giggles, knowing that it had been too long since they'd gotten to visit his brother and his only daughter. He knew that they meant well, but the attention they were drawing from the dock hands was nothing compared to the attention of the naval Captain who was standing near their carriage.

"Count Swann," he said, bowing low, "I am Captain James Norrington."

"Captain Norrington, these are my daughters, Rosaline and Adrienne," the Count said, bowing in return. The girls curtsied absently, not paying a lick of attention to the Captain.

"I was told there was another?" the Captain said warily, wondering if the Count was as free with information as his brother was.

"My son, Jacob, was not able to make it. He's down with a horrible cold and was not up to the journey across, unfortunately."

"I do hope he gets to feeling better," the Captain said, opening the carriage door for the Count and his daughters, who had finally noticed the smart man in his uniform. They sobered up and slipped inside the carriage, a blush painting each girl's cheeks.

They were silent on the ride to the Governor's house.

"Uncle Weatherby!" Adrienne squealed, running to hug her uncle. Rosaline slipped out of the carriage, managing to keep her emotions in check. Her sister, only fifteen, was allowed to run about as though she were a small child. She, however, was almost twenty, and had no right to act the way her sister did amongst others. Rosaline approached gently and hugged her uncle in a very gentle, lady like way that made her father beam with pride.

"James, do come in," the Governor said after clasping hands with his brother.

"I'm afraid I shan't, Governor. I have much that needs attending to at the fort. Please, however, give my best to Miss Elizabeth," Captain Norrington said with a half smile.

As soon as the carriage was out of the circle and gone, the two girls erupted into laughter. Preparing themselves for what lay inside, they stepped into the house silently, prepared to act like proper English gentlewomen, at least until they went up to Elizabeth's room.

Later, as Rosaline lay awake, waiting for the opportune moment, she couldn't help but berate herself for what she'd done. Taking the gold coin from Elizabeth's room was one thing, but preparing to wear it outside the house was something entirely different. She guessed, however, that there was a bit of sense in her taking the medallion, what with her heritage and all. As soon as she heard the latch on her cousin's balcony doors close, she threw her legs out from underneath the covers, revealing burlap britches and a white cotton shirt. Silently, she drew on a plain beige jacket and donned a hat. Carefully, she belted her cutlass into place before she drew herself up to her full height. Taking her doused lamp from the bedside table, she poured some of the oil onto the latch before sliding it open. Suppressing a giggle, she grabbed a piece of torn cloth from the pocket of her coat. She bound her hair in a tight braid before she shimmied down the trellis beside her window.

The night was still young, and promising to be full of surprises.

At the Hawk's Wing, an inn in the poorer district of Port Royal, Rose sat at a back table, entertaining a few of the younger boys with tales of adventures and daring escapades that led to near death, but almost always ended in riches. Of course, most of it was wrought from the books she had in the bottom of her trunk about pirates, but she refused to let the little children know that. She gave each little boy six shillings and told them to run along before the pirates caught them out and about. She, consequently, didn't see the blacksmith that slid into the chair across from her.

"You think it wise, filling their heads with tales of thievery and law breaking?" he asked.

Rose didn't even jump. "Didn't you ever dream as a child? Didn't you think, maybe, that there was something more out there than a life of monotony and oppression? If I'm a monster for supplying that dream, so be it."

"Will Turner."

"Nigel," Rose replied, as she often did. She gave no last name. Nigel was usually such a common name, so she didn't even think about it.

"Nigel Swann, the governor's brother?"

"Who?" Rose said, suppressing the panic in her belly.

"Guess not," Will said, dejected.

"You must be a blacksmith," Rose said softly, taking in his clothes.

"That I am not. I'm an apprentice. My master sent me to fetch him a bottle."

"Tell you what; I'll buy the bottle if you'll repair my cutlass. She's nicked and dinged from a bar fight in Surrey and I'd desperately love to get her fixed."

Will nodded, eager to prove his worth. Rose bought a bottle of rum and followed the boy to the smithy.

At the Governor's house, Elizabeth Swann stepped into her cousin's room in silence, wondering if Rosaline was still getting away with what she'd been doing since she was fifteen. At the sight of the empty bed, Elizabeth smiled and went back to her own room, resolute to keep the secret.

Rose leaned back against the wooden support beam and watched the taught, hardened muscles of the black smith's back ripple as he worked to fix the nicks in the blade.

"It looks like it's been a while since you've seen a smith about this blade, Nigel. Been traveling a lot?"

"More like... privateering on behalf of the King," Rose said softly, hoping that this guy didn't hate pirates. She was obsessed with them and she knew it, but privateers weren't as... dangerous.

"I hear it's a dangerous profession, privateering," Will said, pulling the blade from the fire and beginning to hammer it back into shape.

"Not really. I'm certain being a pirate is much more dangerous."

"Pirates," Will growled, "Deserve to have a dangerous profession."

"Do tell; what have you against them? They're just privateers without colors," Rose countered.

"They rape, pillage, and plunder without rhyme or reason. They're evil."

"Have you ever met one, William? Sit down and talk with one once. Most pirates now a day's rape because they can't pillage or plunder worth a damn. Years back when piracy was in its prime, pirates had a certain respect for persons of the female persuasion. Women without husbands were often left be. Their houses were often the only ones unscathed. You listen to the East India Trading goons too much, William," Rose said, taking the cooled cutlass from the man and moving to the bench with the whetstone. She didn't realize her hat was slipping, or she wouldn't have started sharpening the blade.

Her hat fell to the ground, revealing her feminine features.

"Y-You're a woman!" Will said, rushing forward to grab her by the arm. "You shouldn't be here, Miss."

"Stop, right now," Rose growled, holding the cutlass to his throat. "And don't doubt that I know how to use it, Mr. Turner. We were having a pleasant evening. How about we continue enjoying it? You've gotten your bottle of rum, but I've not fixed my blade yet."

"Why?"

"Why do I do this? You've really no idea how dull and drab the life of a noblewoman is. Being perfect and ladylike just so that one day some boring _toad_ can come along and claim you as his bride? I think not. So I do what I can to live the life I want to live. If that means hiding the fact that I'm a woman, so be it. But, believe me, getting into bar fights and telling stories to little boys who want so badly for there to be something out there that isn't enslavement because some god told a man to tell another man he was king is far more enjoyable for me than sitting in my bed wondering if I'll have a Commodore or a Prince come by tomorrow to look at me through the glass," Rose said, a cold laugh escaping her throat as she began hacking away at the sword with a whetstone.

Will continued his questioning as the blade became sharper and sharper.

"Rosaline!" Elizabeth called, rushing into the room, "Rosaline wake up!"

"Hizzit?" Rose said, sitting up in the bed and rubbing the bags away from her eyes. Adrienne rushed in after their cousin.

"You and I and Adrienne have a half an hour to get ready for the Commodore's swearing in ceremony. And then, you and I have things to discuss," Elizabeth said, a smile playing on her lips.

"Alright, alright," Rose said, swinging out of bed and into action. She'd carefully shoved her clothes into the bottom of the trunk as soon as she got home, despite the fact that she was quite tired. Silently, she pulled out a lavender dress. As Adrienne laced up her corset, Elizabeth kept eying the trunk suspiciously, and Rose tried to keep from laughing. Elizabeth had never been able to figure out where she managed to keep all her boy's clothes when her trunk was so full of dresses and frocks. "You'll never find it, Lizzy," she whispered softly, so softly that Adrienne didn't hear.

Rose stepped into the dress as Elizabeth pulled her hair up into a kind of hanging bun designed to let her hair cascade down her back, while still keeping it up. As soon as Rose was done, Adrienne went off to get into her own gown while Rosaline began lacing up Elizabeth's corset.

"So, still getting away with it, I see," Elizabeth laughed as Rose suppressed a yawn. "Did you meet any of those pirates you fancy?"

"I didn't, and it's probably for the better. Anymore, I don't think I could keep myself from leaving with one," Rose giggled as she laced up the back of Elizabeth's sunshine yellow dress.

"You should find yourself a suitor here just so you could stay."

"Perhaps a blacksmith," Rose laughed, thinking of her encounter with Will Turner the night before. Elizabeth, however, stiffened. "Ah, we wouldn't happen to fancy the blacksmith, now would we?"

"No," Elizabeth denied quickly.

"Really? So that means he's fair game, right?"

"NO!" Elizabeth answered before she could stop herself.

"So we do fancy the blacksmith and not the Captain now don't we."

Elizabeth turned bright red and swatted the girl away, leaving her to her giggles as she returned to her rooms to gather her fan. Rose grabbed, instead of the brilliant red fan that her father had bought for her, the black Japanese fighting fan that she herself had picked up from a pirate in Singapore.

It was both a good thing and a bad thing that she did.

Downstairs, Will Turner shoved the broken candle holder into the umbrella stand just as Rose descended the stair case. Her breath hitched in her chest, and she found herself stuck in a very awkward position as he turned and caught sight of her. Recognition flashed in his eyes, but he said nothing. A slow smile spread across her face as her feet found the marble of the floor.

"I don't believe we've ever properly been introduced, Mr..."

"Turner. Will Turner," he said, bowing.

"Rosaline Swann," Rose said with a smile. Then, lower and quieter, "I'm glad we have an understanding. You watch my back, and I'll be sure to bring you some work your way. You really are an excellent craftsman."

Will blushed and stood up straight as the Governor came into the room.

"Ah, William, I see you've met my niece Rosaline," the Governor exclaimed.

"Yes, Governor, Miss Swann and I were just discussing your order," Will said with a smile.

"Mr. Turner was about to show me what was in the box when you came along," Rose said softly.

"Well, please, don't stop on my account," the Governor said with a smile.

"Miss, if you please," Will said, and Rose curtsied and stepped back so that her uncle could see the sword. Will opened the box and handed the girl the sword. She, of course, had to force basic instinct to the back of her mind and pray that her Uncle hadn't noticed her hands as they twitched to pull the sword from its sheath. "May I?"

"By all means," Rose said, handing the blade back.

"It's perfectly balanced; the blade is folded steel which makes this sword strong, light, and supple. That's gold inlay on the handle."

"It really is beautiful. You did a fine job," Rose said softly, catching the sword easily as he tossed it up in the air. It was an ingrained instinct.

"Now, Rose, surely you must know that it was his master that did the work?" the Governor said softly, and Will's face fell.

"But, Uncle, in England the apprentice does all the work while the master lazes around," Rose said softly, hinting to her uncle that she knew the social decorum, but work as fine as the blade she'd just held deserved proper compliments.

"I see," the Governor said, a smile gracing his face. "In that case, well done, William."

Will bowed, smiling, and went to leave the mansion. However, he heard the Governor's gasp and turned.

"Will!" Elizabeth said.

"Miss Swann," William said as she descended the stairs.

"Will, how many times must I ask you to call me Elizabeth."

"I'm afraid just once more as always, Miss Swann," he gulped.

"At least the boy understands social decorum, Elizabeth _and_ Rosaline," the Governor said. Elizabeth, behind her father's back, looked quizzically at Rose, who smiled coyly, earning her a glare from the aforementioned cousin.

"Good day, Mr. Turner," Elizabeth growled, her rage unintentionally redirecting itself to Will, who blushed. Adrienne and Elizabeth went out the door behind Governor Swann. Rose, before leaving, placed a chaste kiss on Will's cheek. "The Tiger's Jaw, midnight. I'll bring the rum, you bring the blacksmith skills."

Rose ran out after her cousin, giggling to herself the whole way. God, she loved Port Royal.


	3. Chapter Two Captain Jack Sparrow

**Bloody hell! I've left you with... well... with nothing of worth while recognition. I apologize. Between school and work (plus this huge thing called a crush I've got on the boss man) I've been a busy little under paid, under appreciated, overworked intern... not. Under appreciated... more like over appreciated and occasionally over estimated. Overworked? Hah! not even close.**

**I'm rambling, aren't I?**

***smack***

Chapter Two- _Captain_ Jack Sparrow

Rose, Adrienne, and Elizabeth stood fanning themselves, watching with slightly bored smiles as Norrington was sworn in as Commodore, atop the fort. Rose's attention, however, rested more to the side rather than the man of the hour. She was watching intently as two guards and a man who was obviously a pirate spoke to each other. The man was pointing, and as soon as the guards were distracted, he stole aboard the Interceptor. Not thinking anything of it, Rose turned back to the ceremony. As soon as it was completed, she stepped down and walked to Will's side, smiling sweetly.

"She doesn't give you the time of day, does she?" Rose asked, startling Will out of his daze.

"Not normally, no," Will sighed dejectedly.

"My cousin rarely if ever knows what is good for _her_. She always does what is best for Uncle," Rose said in agreement.

"You seem like the kind of person out for personal gain," Will said, turning to face the young woman.

"Well, don't tell Elizabeth or the Governor, but my mother was an ex-pirate. She was branded by the East India Trading Company and everything, and yet Father still fell in love with her, which was no easy task as you can imagine. Uncle Weatherby has always been under the impression that she was the daughter of a sailor. I'm the only one besides father who knows the truth," Rose said softly, her eyes turning back towards the sea, "So I guess you could say personal gain is in my blood."

"Did your mother love your father?"

"At first, no. When I was born, there were often fights that ended with her walking out to go pirating again. Father always covered for her. But, slowly but surely she fell in love with him. Was it true love? I doubt it. I think it was more love for the man who helped her make, as she used to put it, such beautiful babies. My little brother is the last of us there will ever be, unfortunately. My mother died in child birth."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. She died at sea, crossing back from Port Royal, so I know she was happy. Father, however, was devastated. He hasn't been right since."

"Do you think he's scared of something?"

"I think he's afraid I'll go off gallivanting with pirates and get myself killed. I think he's scared I'll take my siblings with me."

"Have you told them about your... night antics?"

"Someday, when Adrienne's all grown up and gets her head far enough out of the clouds that she doesn't try it herself, yes, I'll tell her. But so long as she thinks she must do everything I do, I'll keep it to myself. I've done many things over the years that I shouldn't have done, including going off with pirates for weeks to months at a time. Father doesn't know where I go, and nor does he ask. He's scared to find out."

"You seem to get more daring, according to the look Miss Elizabeth gave you earlier," Will said softly.

"I do. I truly do worry that one of these days, the temptation will become too much and I'll want to stay with whatever ship I'm on. But, until that day comes, I'm content with the way I live. Father doesn't really care so long as we're alive and well."

"You really believe that pirates can be good people."

"Sometimes, pursuing the right course demands an act of piracy. In some cases, piracy itself can be the right course," Rose said, not knowing that the same wisdom would later be spouted by her uncle as well.

"Miss Elizabeth will be looking for you shortly. I suppose you'd better go find her."

"You'll snatch her off her feet one day, William. Don't forget that."

Rose went back up the steps in just enough time to see her cousin fall over the side.

"ELIZABETH!"

Captain Jack Sparrow was by no means a saint. He'd done his fair share of pirate-y deeds, and he didn't give a damn whether anyone cared or not. But, he was an honest pirate and didn't believe in letting a damsel in distress lie.

"Don't lose these," he growled as he handed the two idiot guards his effects. Diving overboard, he raced downward to the fast sinking woman. He didn't think about the pulse in the water he felt.

On top of the fort, Commodore James Norrington stood staring after the young woman who had just run down the steps. He was frozen, wondering why he'd seen her eyes widen with fear. In truth, Rose had recognized the cursed pirate gold immediately, but hadn't thought to do anything about it. She had known that, should the gold touch the water, it would call the pirates who had removed it to her. And, as a storm began to brew all of the sudden, Rose's breath hitched again. She picked up the pace, not realizing that Will was standing in front of his smithy, staring after her as she rushed to the docks.

Rose ran to the idiot guards and watched as the captain she'd read so much about tore her cousin's corset off. She knelt beside him and looked at him, admiration in her eyes.

"Captain," she said softly, supporting her cousin automatically as she began coughing up water.

"How do you-"

"ELIZABETH!" James cried, running over. The guards all drew their swords as Elizabeth stood and was wrapped in a blanket.

"Please, this man saved my life," Elizabeth said softly.

The guards all put their weapons down as the Commodore got a wicked gleam in his eye. Rose recognized it instantly. It was the same gleam the man had had whenever he spied her mother in Port Royal.

"I guess thanks are in order," he said, extending his hand.

Petrified, Rose could only shake her head as Jack extended his hand to meet Commodore Norrington's.

"Don't!" she started, but it was too late.

"Pirate," Norrington hissed as he turned over Jack's arm. "Had a run in with the East India Trading company, have we?"

Jack was clapped in irons almost instantly.

"He just saved Elizabeth's life," Rose hissed, stepping foolishly in front of the pirate. She knew as well as any that pirates would do anything when cornered.

"One good deed does not forgive a life time of sin," Norrington hissed, "Now if you would be so kind as to move, Miss Swann."

"No," Rose hissed.

"Rosaline, move so that the Commodore can take this pirate into custody," Governor Swann said darkly.

Rose found herself suddenly on the wrong side of the chain.

"Dear god," Weatherby exclaimed, "Lower your weapons!"

"If you'd be so kind as to give me my affects," Jack growled, "Then little Miss Swann here won't get hurt."

Rose's eyes narrowed darkly as she put the pirate's affects back on him. She smacked his hat on his head a little harder than was strictly necessary before being shoved into the surprised arms of James Norrington. Norrington began the chase, leaving the Swann family behind.

"Rose, you could have been killed. He's a dangerous man," Elizabeth chastised as the woman stood in her men's clothes, leaning against the balcony window.

"If I had a pound for every time I'd done something that could get me killed, I'd have more money than Father and Uncle combined," Rose hissed, pulling her hat down over her head.

"Where are you going, anyway?"

"To see our mutual blacksmith friend; if you won't give him the time of day, I intend to take up the slack," Rose said as she stepped out of Elizabeth's balcony doors.

Silently, the young woman fiddled with the pirate gold around her neck.

Rose stepped into the smithy silently, smiling at Will despite his dejected stance.

"He was caught and that's all that matters," Rose said softly.

Will's reply was interrupted by the sound of cannon fire.

The next morning, after Will recovered from a nasty knock on the head, he returned to the smithy to find Rose hiding behind a hay bale, looking at something shiny around her neck. He heard her whispering to herself frantically before she stood, in full men's clothes, and raced out the back. He gave silent chase, knowing that Elizabeth had been kidnapped, but curious to see what the actions of her cousin would do. Will watched as she ran into the Governor's house.

Rose flew down into the cellar to find Adrienne hovering over the dead body of their father. Her sister was sobbing hysterically, unable to gain control over herself.

"Oh, Addy, what happened?" Rose asked, kneeling beside her sister.

"H-He gave his l-life to keep them from searching the c-cellar anymore. He s-saved me," Addy sobbed, leaning into her sister. She felt the men's clothes, and realized something. "Rose, why aren't you in your nightdress?"

Rosaline Swann froze immediately. She had a choice now; her brother and sister were fatherless, and they had no patron. Both had pirate in their blood. But, could she condemn her siblings to a life of piracy just so she could be free?

"You must promise me something, Addy. You must swear to me that you won't tell Uncle, and no matter what I do, you won't follow me. Will you swear it?" Rose asked, not noticing nor caring about Will's frame in the doorway.

"I swear."

"Our mother was a pirate, Addy. I'm just as imaginative as you when I want to be. When I was your age, I decided that I'd had enough of being the responsible one. I started wearing boy's clothes and going out. I'd get into bar fights and brawl and come back tired, but happy. But Father could never know. Never. Addy, I'm going to leave a letter turning custody of you and Jacob over to Uncle Weatherby. You have to promise that you'll stay here and keep quiet. Make up a story about my having been kidnapped with Elizabeth, ok? But you can't tell anyone but Jacob the truth, and he must swear never to tell another soul, understand? Can you do that?"

Adrienne, tears in her eyes, nodded. "You're not coming back, are you?"

"No, no, Addy, I will come back. I'll come back in five years, when you're the same age as I am now, and I'll give you the same choice that's been laid before me. Hopefully, then, you'll understand. Now I'm going to find cousin Elizabeth with Mr. Turner, the blacksmith. Don't tell anyone, Addy," Rose said softly.

And so, with that, Rosaline Swann disappeared from Port Royal forever. As Rose slipped out the back door after gathering all her possessions, which she stashed beside the Dauntless, her Uncle came in to discover the dead body of his only brother and the news that both his daughter and his niece had been kidnapped. Governor Weatherby Swann was never destined to see Rose again.

"What choice were you talking about back there?" Will asked as they started for the fort.

"You've not read much pirate lore, have you? That ship last night was the Black Pearl. Ordinarily, she's captained by none other than our favorite pirate, Jack Sparrow, but someone else was in charge of that ship. And, they left Jack here. He knows where she's going with cousin Elizabeth and so far as anyone else knows, myself. We have to free him."

"Freeing a pirate condemned to death is punishable by _death_, Rose."

"I guess it's a good thing I just chose to become a pirate."

"Well, 'ello, there. It seems my favorite sparring partner has come to visit me. And 'e brought a pirate wiv him," Jack Sparrow said softly, looking at them from beneath seemingly hooded lids. "For a pirate hater, you keep strange company, boy."

"I only hate pirates who threaten those I care about," Will hissed.

"Ah, so he's not threatened anything you think is yours."

"Captain Sparrow, shut your over large mouth and listen before I shut it for you," Rose growled.

"Ah, I'm sorry, _she._"

"You know where the Black Pearl makes berth, do you not?" Will demanded.

"I might know where she's headed, but what's that to you?"  
"They've taken my- someone dear to us," Rose said, her voice dropping so she wouldn't be heard. "You take us to her, we free you, everyone's happy."

"And how do you propose to do that; the keys ran off."

"Do we have an accord?" Rose growled.

"You sure do let her do a lot of talking, boy."

"Do we have an accord, Captain Sparrow?" Will growled.

"What's your name, boy?" Jack asked, cocking an eyebrow at the familiar anger.

Before Rose could stop him, he'd already said his name.

"We have an accord."

"We're going to steal a ship?" Will asked.

"Commandeer. We're going to commandeer that ship," Jack said, pointing to the Interceptor.

"By taking that ship," Rose finished, pointing towards the Dauntless, moored out in the bay.

"Here they come," Will said softly, watching as the Interceptor approached. Rose had thrown her trunk aboard quickly and quietly so that it was there. What Will and Jack didn't know was that it was full of weapons and pirating gear, including a compass that didn't point north.

"No, really?" Rose asked, already slipping flawlessly into the skin of Dusty Rose, the "greatest female pirate that ever sailed the seven seas" as she had been called.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to the Dusty Rose, now would you?" Jack asked, watching the approach of the Interceptor with excited eyes.

"I _am_ the Dusty Rose," Rose replied, rolling her eyes.

To that, Jack said nothing. However, the swift tightening in his pants told him that it was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter Three Tortuga

Chapter Three- Tortuga

As the Interceptor came along side the Dauntless, Rose, Will, and Jack swung across the way to the "fastest ship in the Caribbean," which was an untrue statement. The Pearl was the fastest, but that meant nothing to the Fleet. Rose grabbed an axe and swiftly chopped the lines off as Jack began to pull away from the ship upon which they'd disabled the rudder chain. As soon as they were far enough away, Rose swung herself up onto the rat lines and scampered up to the top, reaching the royal yard in record time. Will and Jack watched as she swung her legs up over the royal yard and dangled down across the royal sail, a musket in hand. She shot, and blew a hole in the Commodore's hat, throwing it off his head and causing him to look in their direction. She leaned up and waved with a smile as Jack glared at her.

"Thanks for getting her ready for us, Commodore. We'd've 'ad a hard time of it by ourselves," he shouted across, forcing himself to cackle.

Will and Jack sat back and admired their handy work as the Dauntless tried and failed to turn toward. Rose, however, was silent and brooding whilst she sat atop the royal yard. Her pensive eyes were directed toward her Uncle's mansion. She pulled from her waist a spyglass and watched the house fade away. Behind her cousin's window on the top floor, she could make out the vague outline of her sister in a dress, watching her as she departed. There was a pang in her heart as they sailed away from Port Royal, but as the salty sea air filled her nostrils, she found herself unable to revoke her decision. She wasn't sorry for leaving. She wasn't sorry for running away from everything she'd ever known in an instant. It was a decision that her mother would have been proud of had she been around. That steeled her resolve, and she flew down the rat lines toward the deck in silence. As such, Jack didn't notice her land behind him.

"Jack?" she asked, eyeing Will, who was hanging from the trysail over the open ocean.

"Just teaching the boy the lesson, luv. Now, as I was saying," and here Jack paused to spin the wheel back, bringing Will onto the deck again and knocking him onto his bum, "Can you sail under the command of a couple of pirates, or can you not?"

Will took the sword and stood with a quizzical look on his face. "Where do you get a couple of pirates from?"

"Don't tell me you 'aven't heard of the Dusty Rose, mate? The most fearsome she-pirate to ever sail the seven seas, she is. We're in the company of a true legend," Jack said with a smile, watching as Rose narrowed her eye.

"That's bull shit, total and complete bull shit, and you know it, Sparrow," Rose growled.

"You being the Dusty Rose or the bit about you being fearsome, because love, you really are quite fearsome," Jack countered.

"We'll go with the latter on that one. I'm not fearsome," Rose hissed, but the disappointment in her voice was evident. "All those tales about me are exaggerated."

"The same could be said of all of us," Jack said cryptically.

Three days later, the commandeered Interceptor made port at Tortuga, and Will Turner got the chance to breath in the fine odor of piracy first hand.

Rose had a hell of a time getting him to keep anything down while Jack went off in search of Mister Gibbs, as he'd affectionately refered to the man. She sat beside him in the thicket near the Faithful Bride as he tried to keep a hold of the small bowl of broth that Rose had forced him to consume. After she'd managed to keep Will from throwing up again, she watched with wary eyes as Jack and a man she could only assume was Mr. Gibbs approached. She angled Will away from them, making it seem like a gesture of kindness for the two men when in fact it was so that she could better guard him. She knew that, given the chance, Elizabeth would give Will the time of day. However, Will had to be alive for that to happen. As the eldest cousin Elizabeth had, Rose felt responsible for her would-be suitor.

She didn't much like the look in "Mr. Gibbs's" eye.

"Joshamee Gibbs, at your service, m'lady," the man said, bowing low.

"Master Gibbs, this is the Dusty Rose," Jack said to the man, hinting some unfathomable thing to the man that he obviously assumed Rose hadn't picked up on. For the time being, Rose let him keep his presumptions.

"She don't look like the Rose. Yes, yes, the Rose has a red hat, remember, and a red shirt and black britches," he said, although he pronounced it with an Irish twang that was unmistakable. Rose recognized him instantly as the man who had served on the boat that her cousin had traveled across the sea on.

"I was forced to leave rather quickly," Rose said curtly. "If you'd like proof, I can cut you down here and now."

Gibbs gulped and stepped back.

"I wasn't meaning nothing by it, Miss Rose," Gibbs said, his hands beginning to tremble.

Rose, normally, would have dropped the act immediately. But, so far as anyone was concerned, the Dusty Rose was a cold, heartless bitch. Rose nodded curtly toward the man and pulled Will up by his elbow. "I'm taking Turner to get some air. Hurry up."

Jack nodded in her general direction, too preoccupied with the barrel of rum in front of him, which was ready for the taking. Rose pulled Will away from the noise and odor of the town, heading back to the Interceptor and its peaceful rocking motion.

"How do you know he won't run out on us?" Will moaned as Rose sat him down in the hammock that she had designated for him.

"Because he wants the Pearl too badly, love. Now go to sleep," Rose murmured, pushing him back on the hammock and pulling the covers up to his chin. Will barely even heard her, and what she'd said didn't register as he fell into the blissful clutches of good sleep.

Rose nodded and ascended to the deck.

"Miss Rose, the Captain's wanting a word with you!" Gibbs shouted up from the docks.

Rose sighed softly and descended to the dying deck on Tortuga, braced for an argument. As she stepped onto the dock, she could see Jack seated on a barrel, facing the sea, away from Port Royal. She hopped up on a crate next to Jack and folded her legs beneath her.

"You wanted to see me, Cap'n?" Rose said softly.

"You're quite something, you know," Jack said, not looking at her. "All those stories about you being a heartless wench whose only love is the sea, and you find it in your heart to love a pirate hating blacksmith."

"I don't love him," Rose said simply.

"I see the way you look at him."

"I lust after him, yes, but I don't love him. That would be someone else's department."

"Then why protect him like a mother lion with her cubs, mate? He's a big boy, he can look after 'im self," Jack said, turning to look at her with something akin to jealousy blazing in his kohl-rimmed eyes.

Rose was taken aback, not knowing a pirate to be jealous of her and her supposed sexual endeavors, at least not possessively jealous. She decided to answer honestly, since he had been honest with her so far. "The woman that Barbossa kidnapped; she's my cousin. She's in love with Will. She's the only one besides my younger sister who knows that I am the Dusty Rose. I love her like a sister, and I'm the one who chose to bring Will with us. Elizabeth will kill me if anything happens to him."

"You were the one at the docks," Jack said, turning back to the sea.

"You miss the Pearl, don't you?"

"She's the only thing I'm capable of loving," Jack said softly.

"I don't think so," Rose said softly, not understanding nor caring why she was doing what she was doing.

"Why not?"

"Because; jealousy is an emotion of the possessive lover. You're jealous of something; I just haven't figured it out yet."

"I'm not jealous, but it was a nice gesture," Jack said, standing up from the barrel.

"When will we set off, Cap'n?"

"Tomorrow morning at six bells of the forenoon watch; why?"

"So I know when to be back. Keep an eye on Will; he has a terrible fever," Rose said, turning on her booted heel.

Jack found himself torn between the need to follow and the desire to do what she asked.

Rose sat on a stool in the Faithful Bride, waiting with baited breath for the young, Jamaican woman known as Anamaria to find her way there. Stuck in the pirate port of Tortuga for five months straight because of Jack and his thievery, Anamaria was looking for payback and a new ship. Rose knew how she could get both in one swoop. All Anamaria had to do was entertain an idea of Rose's for a moment.

"What do you want?" came the sultry voice of Anamaria from the stool beside her. The bar tender dropped a flagon of rum in front of Ana silently and stalked off, leaving the two women to their conversation in the back of the bustling bar.

"I want the same thing you want; a ship," Rose said softly. "And I know how to get mine and yours in one pounce."

"You have my full attention."

The next morning, Rose sauntered up to the Pearl in deft silence, despite the lingering buzz of alcohol in her system. Instead of boarding, she sat down on the crate from the night before and stared out into the sea.

"I'll call her the Siren's Call," Rose murmured. "She'll be the fastest ship in the Caribbean; faster even than the Pearl. I'll paint her red with the blood of all in my way. She'll have room for a crew of hundreds. A ferry for all those who believe in freedom."

"What are you talking about?" asked the voice of William Turner, who was standing on the gangplank to the Interceptor, watching Rose's every movement.

"Nothing but a passing fancy, m'dear William," Rose said softly, "Nothing but a passing fancy."

Will turned and made his way back up to fetch Jack.


	5. Notice

NOTICE:

Okay, so I broke my flash-drive with all my files on it and dummy me never got around to backing the damn thing up. So, until I can afford to take it in and get it fixed or whatever, I'm going to _**attempt**_ to write from memory. I can't promise that I'll get all of the stories that I had up exactly the way that they are on the flash drive, which means that I may have to sit down and re-write them. I also can't promise that the flash drive will be fixed and data will be recoverable. In the event of this latter instance, I will finish from memory. And, who knows? Maybe this is a good thing. The thing was getting a little cluttered anyway…

Who the hell am I kidding?

Sorry for the inconvenience,

Midnight Rhymer & Management


End file.
